Department ofSociology

Stories

New Books by Faculty in 2017

Stick Together and Come Back Home

Racial Sorting and the Spillover of Carceral Identity

Patrick Lopez-Aguado (Author)

In Stick Together and Come Back Home, Patrick Lopez-Aguado examines how what happens inside a prison affects what happens outside of it. Following the experiences of seventy youth and adults as they navigate juvenile justice and penal facilities before finally going back home, he outlines how institutional authorities structure a “carceral social order” that racially and geographically divides criminalized populations into gang-associated affiliations. These affiliations come to shape one’s exposure to both violence and criminal labeling, and as they spill over the institutional walls they establish how these unfold in high-incarceration neighborhoods as well, revealing the insidious set of consequences that mass incarceration holds for poor communities of color.

Undocumented and in College

Students and Institutions in a climate of National hostility

Terry Ann Jones and Laura Nichols (Editors)

The current daily experiences of undocumented students as they navigate the processes of entering and then thriving in Jesuit colleges are explored alongside an investigation of the knowledge and attitudes among staff and faculty about undocumented students in their midst, and the institutional response to their presence. Cutting across the fields of U.S. immigration policy, theory and history, religion, law, and education, Undocumented and in College delineates the historical and present-day contexts of immigration, including the role of religious institutions. This unique volume, based on an extensive two-year study (2010–12) of undocumented students at Jesuit colleges in the United States and with contributions from various scholars working within these institutions, incorporates survey research and in-depth interviews to present the perspectives of students, staff, and the institutions.

The New Frontier

Merit Vs. Caste in the Indian IT Sector

Marilyn Fernandez

Even after six decades of India's independence, caste identity continues to be a major social marker for most Indians. Therefore, and as the author argues, questions about the role of caste in Indian society, particularly in the new and burgeoning Information and Technology (IT) industry, remain worthy of renewed and continued exploration. This book addresses pertinent issues around the role and status of caste in this new private occupational sector that boasts of merit as the ultimate equalizer. The author finds that in spite of the narrative of equality and justice, caste status continues to influence access to IT education and in the new IT occupations in India. The IT sector remains closed as a level playing ground to lower castes groups, particularly the Dalits or the most marginalized caste groups in the country while favouring upper caste members. The author addresses and analyses how at multiple levels of the IT organizational structure, existing inequalities on the basis of caste are reinforced and its deep interplay with class and gender are manifested. Locating intricate patterns of articulation of caste identity in rapidly urbanising India, the author offers valuable insights into the study of inequality and social mobility in developing societies.